Horse vs. Sheep

The other day I went for a trail ride with punky. It was awesome. It was really sunny so we decided to go down towards the beach. It was a bit too windy to go on the beach so we just rode in between fields in the surrounding farms close to the beach. We rode in the evening so the sun was in its golden hour and it was a very dramatic setting seeing the sun’s rays over the ocean while riding in the hills. It was quite the adventurous ride as well. In the beginning, Punky was slow and he was a bit tired so it seemed he didn’t want to ride for long. That changed once he heard a dog barking, he suddenly got really alert and was a bit scared. He was more scared because he couldn’t see the dog and we were riding alone so he there wasn’t another horse there to make him feel more assured. He suddenly got more energy but he didn’t want to move. He was determined not to move, so after a while of trying to persuade him to move forward I jumped off and lead him past the house with the barking dog. It was funny because once I got off him and was leading him then he had no problem and wasn’t scared at all. After that little encounter we continued riding. There is this hill that we always run up and I let punky gallop as fast as he wants, he absolutely loves it. Since he is a very smart horse he remembered this hill, so when we came close to this hill he got very exited. He just couldn’t wait to run up that hill. It was an awesome feeling letting him just run as fast as he can up this long stretch of hill in between some fields. It was good for him to stretch his legs.

On our way back home we had another little encounter. As we were riding down this road some sheep came running around the corner as fast as they could.. Punky was terrified. He stopped dead in his tracks and didn’t know what to do. Then as the sheep came closer punky backed up, but when the sheep realised how big punky was they started to turn back and run the other direction. Then came the farmer around the corner herding the sheep, I believe they were moving the sheep from one field to another. So as the farmer starting herding the sheep back in our direction and running straight to punky, punky decided to whip around turn in the opposite direction and get out of there! He ran in the other direction for a bit stopping every once in a while to see if the sheep were still coming towards him. Initially as he started running I stopped him but then decided to let him run a bit so he would calm down. He only ran about 20 meters and then he stopped himself. As he stopped I turned him around and jumped off. Once I was on the ground he calmed down more as he could see me and I could comfort him. As the sheep continued on by he stood still for me but was very scared. I just smiled because I thought it was hilarious that Punky who is quite a strong horse with a lot of muscle is completely terrified of a bunch of small sheep. Granted there were more of them then of him but still there must have been about 10-15.. so not that big of a herd. After the event I just laughed as punky still seemed in horrific shock of the event and was acting like he was scarred for life. I swear he was saying ‘oh my gosh WE COULD HAVE DIED’. Seeing such a macho horse freak out about a bunch of sheep and be all dramatic about it just made my day. I love my little punky.   

So I thought that was a funny little story to share with you guys. Wish i took pictures of our ride but i'll add some other pictures.

I haven’t done much today, just packing and planning. Can’t wait for Italy and the hot weather! But I have to say it is quite warm here in Norway as well.

Anyways hope you have an adventurous and funny day like I did, and remember stay golden ;)

Quote of the day: “A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.” Leo Buscaglia

-          Emilia

Living a Vegan Lifestyle

For about a year now I have been vegan. There were some months I switched back and forth from vegetarianism and veganism but for the majority of the year I was fully vegan (about 9 months). In the beginning I didn't know much about nutrition so I was eating unhealthy food that just happened to be labeled vegan such as chips, French fries and other quite fattening foods. I didn't come across the high carb low fat plant based lifestyle until a few months into the transition. I was eating way too much fat and protein so I didn't have a lot of energy and I didn't exercise much. But after researching the lifestyle of high carb veganism I fell in love. I was suspicious of the lifestyle at first as I have come from a background of calorie restriction and yoyo dieting. So when I heard you could eat as MANY calories as you desired on this lifestyle I questioned if that was actually true. After seeing that people have been doing this way of living and eating for over 30 years I was convinced I had to try it. I have been doing this lifestyle for a couple months now and I love it! Of course it takes a lot longer than that to see permanent results but so far I have had quite a few positive effects. I have stronger nails, way more energy than I used to, softer hair, I have lost some weight (weight isn't my focus on this journey however, I am more focused on reaching optimal health) and my eyes have become brighter and more aqua green! mental clarity is also a big one, the more fruit and vegies I eat the more clearly I am thinking and easier I can focus. Cooked food clouds my mind a bit but not so much, it still allows me to listen to my body and have that connection. That's another benefit of this lifestyle that you are able to listen to your body and the cleaner you get with your eating the more your body will let you know if you have done something wrong. Humans aren't that good about listening to there bodies. For example a headache is the bodies way of saying you are dehydrated or that you are lacking nutrients but people think it is normal and just take heaps of pills to mask the symptoms or the messages your body is giving you. Pills only silence the pain and mask the symptoms of the deep inner problem your body is trying to tell you to fix, people just chose not to listen. FOOD IS THY MEDICINE, so use it! Whole fruits and vegetables is the key or even simpler clean carbohydrates cure your body as that is what your body needs. When I say clean carbohydrates I mean whole fruits, veggies, rice, pasta, potatoes, or root veggies and other types of grain. Your body can actually heal itself if you allow it to. There was a research done that said on average the human being gets 6 types of cancers in its life and fights them off naturally/overcomes them. It is only when the doctors notice one by a scan that things start to get worse. Chemotherapy weakens your immune system and makes it so you get sicker. Then the cancer gets worse and a lot of people die at this stage. The body doesn’t need help from doctors or medicine it is designed to work on its own. Medicine is just a business! They are robbing you of your money! I am glad I have realised this now so I can prevent having poor health in the future and paying thousands of dollars on health care, pills, doctor visits and other medicine. By preventing having poor health eat your fruits, veggies and cooked carbs and let your body do its own healing! Believe in your own body that it can thrive on its own.

The reason why you can eat so much on this diet is because the excess carbs aren't stored as fat, they are stored as energy in the body for you to use later.. when you eat to much fat the excess fat that isn't used is stored as FAT. so basically the fat you eat is the fat you wear!

The common questions high carb vegans get are WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR PROTEIN?? and DONT CARBS MAKE YOU FAT??

 

the answer to the first question is FRUITS AND VEGGIES.. yes they contain protein!! That's why fruit really is food sent from the gods because fruit actually contains 5-6% protein and a percentage of fat that I cant remember the number of but it does contain low levels of fat. Vegetables contain 10-11% and dark green vegetables contain 20-25% protein.. what?!?!? broccoli and spinach have more protein than meat?! yes it is true.

Now as I am talking about protein, people are obsessed about protein.. they think we need LOTS of protein to survive and that PROTEIN IS LIFE it is our fuel for our daily lives.. wrong.. carbs are our fuel..

Hate to break it to you folks but the government and western society (which has a big impact on the world) has fooled you! they have tricked you into thinking you need lots of protein and that you have to eat MEAT EGGS and DAIRY to get it and only that, nothing else. Why? because the meat and dairy industries pay them to do it. Why do you think there are so many commercials for meat eggs and dairy. For example Got Milk? is an ad campaign to get people to drink more milk which the industry of dairy PAYED the government to make. The meat industry is brain washing people.. The body physically doesn't need THAT much protein.. we actually only need about 2-5% of protein from our foods. There is no such thing as protein deficiency, and it only exists in anorexic or bulimic people and that's because they aren't eating ENOUGH food. So the conclusion is that if you are eating enough food you are getting ENOUGH protein. Look at people who have been living this lifestyle for 12 years or even 32 years. Proof is in the pudding folks. If you want scientific facts than there is a wonderful book called " Engine 2 diet" and another book I forget the name of I think its called "reversing diabetes" or something like that. I have done countless numbers of hours of research about this lifestyle and I know what I am doing and I believe it is my ticket to success. The question I like to ask people is “have you done your research” have you actually taken the time to research your own diet find out what is really in meat dairy and eggs, because if you have I am surprised you are still eating it as you would be shocked to find out what is really in those foods. Do you take the time to care for your own health and do your OWN research or do you just choose to believe what the government tells you what they are paid to tell you. It is a system I tell you. The system gives you food to eat, you get sick or gain weight, the system provides you with medicine to “help” you and put you in hospitals so you can pay massive amounts of money to maybe cure your disease. Then you have this disease long enough that you have used up all your money, die or if you get cured there are high risks of you getting it again. Why do you think there are no cures for cancer, AIDS or other big diseases.. its because the system needs people to get sick so they have people to heal! If you didn’t have sick people, there would be no hospitals or doctors. Doctors are only there because there are sick people, and the system provides them with their income by providing them with sick people (who are eating the mainstream diet). You cant believe that you will live to 100 yrs old and not get diseases if you are eating the mainstream diet.. The reason people cant wrap their heads around this diet and lifestyle is because they have been brain washed and I have chosen to be open minded and think about other options. I chose to go against mainstream and care about my own health as society sure doesn’t give a fruit about if I die from cancer or not. Choose to be your own person, don’t be a part of the system.

I am not the only person to think like this, hundreds and maybe thousadns by now have tried and thrived on this lifestyle because it WORKS. Veganism has been proved to reverse heart disease, arthritis, cancer, diabetes and more. The people who eat the most potatoes in the world are lean as can be! And the couple that has eaten more bananas than anyone else in the world is healthy as can be, even the doctor approved of their lifestyle after seeing blood test results. The people that eat the most meat and dairy in the world are obese and unhealthy. Choose YOUR lifestyle based on your own decisions not from societys decision.   

Lance Armstrong and Steve Jobs even did this lifestyle! Steve Jobs was a fruitarian so a bit more extreme than me but Lance does the same as what I am doing. He says he does the ‘engine 2 diet’ (look it up!) and that is the same as high carb low fat/protein veganism. Join the vegan revolution and follow what the pros are doing! It really works!

Anyways sorry for ranting so much about it I just am very passionate about the subject you could say.

Here is a list of some people who follow this lifestyle that I like to follow and watch videos on youtube: Durianrider, Freelee the banana girl, tannyraw and 40belowfruity

Some other youtubers that are funny and random: Moni maris and jenna marbles.

Quote of the day:  “Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.”

-          Seneca

Bye and have a splendid day

Remmeber to stay golden ;)

-          Emilia

Fresh Start

So the past few days have been fun. I went back to school to attend the last official days of school and get my yearbook and such. It was fun seeing everybody but it also reminded me why I am leaving haha. Yes! I am leaving! what??!? I know right.. shocking. I applied to a school called St.Olav where my mother works as a teacher and the day before school officially ended I got my acceptance letter! I decided to switch schools since I think St.Olav has a better learning environment and the people are more like minded as me. I was happy at ISS I just didn't thrive as well as I could have. I also didn't feel I could be 100% myself as this year I have changed so much people at ISS still see me as my old immature self.. Now at St.Olav people are WAY more mature and I get a fresh start of being 100% myself when I meet new people and it will be a much more positive environment to study in. I cant wait, I am overly exited for next year!! I have never been so exited for school or for the fall to come!! I almost forgot that I have a whole summer of fun things to look forward to as well, im just too exited to start at my new school! I have never been so happy about a decision I have made by myself. Words can not describe my happiness right now. I will be the only one going there from my school, so that will be fun and I was shocked that almost ALL the other students who applied to St.Olav didn't get in. About 5 applied not including me and only 1 got in, but that girl decided she was going to stay at ISS anyways.

So the last day I said my good byes to everyone but some of them I will see in the future next year. I will definitely keep in touch with some of my good real friends that I had there not so much the fake ones. I know some of the students at st.Olav that are in the year above me which is the grade my mom teaches. They are really nice people and it will be nice to see some familiar faces as I start the school year next year. I still will be taking the full IB program and I am exited to learn new things even though I know it will be challenging.

I got my hair re-died the other day so it is a bit darker now but I like it. I just went on a bike ride with my mom and the weather was phenomenal. The view of the ocean on our ride was spectacular as well. However we got a good sweat going up the hill on the way home! Now I was thinking of taking nickie out for a walk and then later going down to the barn to ride punky. I also have to start packing for my big trip to Colorado and our trip to Italy! We leave for Italy in 6 days! Then when we come back I will leave straight away for Colorado the next day.

My dad and Erlend drove down to Kristiansand today just for the day since Erlend has two baseball games he is going to play in there.  

For some reason I cant post pictures to my blog, it wont allow me. SO I will try to get that fixed today so I can post pictures with my blog posts!

Anyways hope you guys have a fantastic day and I will be back tomorrow.

Stay golden ;)

-Emilia

- nickie eating corn on the cob!! 

Summer Feeling

Sitting and watching baseball in the warm summer sun while enjoying some fresh fruit made me finally realize that it is actually summer! ahhh finally after a long school year I get to relax for some months and then get a fresh start in the fall... life is good.

So this long weekend my family and I drove down to Kristiansand for a baseball tournament. It was sunny the whole time with surprisingly warm temperatures. We stayed in this zoo themed hotel that was more adventurous then expected, but hey it was fun to be a kid again for the weekend. It is right at the center of the only zoo situated in Norway called 'Dyreparken' with numerous kids running around pretending to be wild animals or little pirates (there is a pirate that is the mascot of the park that is very famous among young kids).

The atmosphere at the ball park where erlend played all his games was awesome, it felt like I was in America. There was a concession stand with overly priced hotdogs (typical Norway) and everyone sitting around watching players steal home base or hitting doubles. It was awesome seeing all these Norwegians so into the game and showing their passion for baseball. I always love watching erlend play, he definitely looks like the real deal when he is up to bat! There were a lot of cute Norwegian baseball players as well so I didn't mind one bit staying at the field for hours on end. ;)

I couldn't be more excited for this summer. In 10 days we are starting our road trip through Europe down to our final destination of Italy. In Italy we will spend 5 days in the countryside staying at this cute little farm with a few cottages. We did this exact same road trip 10 years ago and stayed at the same little farm! The family even remembers us! I am excited to go there again and see the same Italy and the same Europe 10 years later only with different eyes.

Then after 2 weeks in Europe with my family and seeing friends I have one day in Stavanger then im off to Colorado for 5 weeks! I first stop off in phoenix and stay with my grandparents for a couple nights and get to see my awesome aunt as well! I am so exited to see them and get to spend time with them all by myself. I haven't been to phoenix in a whole year! Then after a couple night in phoenix my grandma, a friend of hers and I will drive down to Colorado. I will stay at the family cabin for a week with my grandma, sleep there at night and during the day work at the toners ranch. Then once my grandma leaves to return to phoenix I will live in a trailer on the property of the ranch I am working at. I might just stay in the trailer the whole 5 some weeks instead but we'll see when we get there. I love Colorado and especially pagosa springs which is a very cute small town 45 min or so from the cabin. The nature the cabin is surrounded in is magnificent and the town is so cute as well! I can definitely see my self living in that area and having my own little ranch on some few hundred acres on the land surrounding pagosa springs. I just cant wait to be independent for a whole month, living by myself working daily on the ranch with horses surrounded by gorgeous nature. Getting to live like a cowgirl and have the western dream is just surreal and I cant believe I get to do what I love for half of the summer and get some time being with people that love the same things I do and having the chance to be 100% myself. The Toner family which owns the ranch and who will be hosting my stay is soooo nice and are the real American western family, I love it! Colorado people are so down to earth and very welcoming. I also cant wait to meet some new people and make new friendships. Maybe there will be a cute cowboy working at the Toner ranch as well, who knows.. ;)

the future holds amazing and exiting things, i just cant wait to experience them!

Have a blessed and awesome day filled with many new joyful things! Remember to live every day to its fullest, there will never be a day like this again in history. Today the 10th of june 2014 is the only one in the universe, so live it like you have never lived before.

Stay golden ;)

- Emilia

These Days

So 2 weeks ago I finished my exams so my summer actually started may 22 this year! So my summer will be extra long this year. I counted and I will have a little over 13 weeks off for summer vacation! It has been great so far.. lots of sunny days at the beach and just chilling with people. This weekend my whole family including myself will be going down to Kristiansand for my brothers baseball tournament. It will be lots of fun as we camp out with the whole team and during the day I will go watch Erlend and his team play then at night we grill and have bonfires long into the night.

I wont be able to blog this weekend but the Monday be come back I will post something about the tournament, highlights and stuff like that.

Today I was outside most of the time as it was soooo sunny and warm! I went down to ride Punky and I put on his new 'green guard' which is something that makes it so he doesn't eat too much grass at one time as that can be harmful for the horse (its kind of like when humans eat too much cake in one sitting then feel sick the next day). So this makes sure he wont get sick as he is now at the summer pastures where the grass is very green and long! He loves it there as he gets to play and relax with his horse friends outside 24/7. Last year there was this beautiful tall mare that was staying at the same summer pastures as Punky, and this horse (Lorelie) just fell in love with Punky. They were quite the love birds (or should I say love ponies), they were inseparable and Punky took the role of protecting her. Every time I would take him in and ride him he would go crazy and he would demand that he be brought back to the pastures. He did not like being away from her as he was afraid some of the other horses might get a shot at her.

so good news for him! she is coming back this year! so he will be thrilled, I don't know how happy I will be as he turns into a down right stubborn teenager when she is around.

I am all about attracting things. I believe if you really want something all you have to do is put all your attention and energy in imagining you already have it and wishing you would have it (in a positive way) and relating positive energy to that thought of possessing this thing or idea. Then after you have mentally committed yourself to this idea I believe sooner or later it will come to you. I have gotten quite good at attracting things as I have become more aware of the power and strength the mind actually has. I am all about 'everything happening for a reason' and that is a plan for everyone. You can say I believe more in the idea that 'the universe' or 'the overall power of existence' controlling what's happening and what you attract rather than 'god' doing that. I still believe in god by all means!! Its just I believe he was and still is the creator but the universe controls your fate and the law of attraction. If you are more interested in the subject I speak of, that of attracting things you want in your life using the simplest tool you already own (your mind) please feel free to go on google and search up "the law of attraction" and you will find many books and articles written on this subject. I have barely scratched the surface on this idea or phenomenon so please google it and you will understand more (if you so wish to do so).

So what I was getting to was that these past few days I have attracted something I didn't exactly want. I got what I wanted or wished to want by attracting it, it just came in a different form or way that I would like. The law of attraction is VERY tricky as you could be subconsciously attracting something you didn't wish for and could be of nuisance to you. As you start mastering the act of attraction you have to start to become more aware of this power as you might start accidently attracting something. An example of this subconscious attraction of something negative you weren't aware about could be for example, say you keep on worrying about your pet fish possibly being sick. Well as the days go on and you consistently worry about your fish and only think about negative things when you are around your fish or just start to associate negative emotions of fear and uncertainty when you think of your fish, then you will start to attract this event actually occurring. Then for example next thing you know your pet fish dies or something. This is the simple explanation for the negative sides of having the power of attracting things or events. I didn't explain it full depth but I hope you get the idea.

A way to avoid this happening (accidently attracting negative things) is by acknowledging  this negative thought as it enters your mind (the one of your fish being sick) and rather switch your mindset to thinking positive things like how beautiful your fish is or how healthy it is/looks. Then you will attract more good things associated to your fish as you relate it to a positive energy rather than a negative one.

So what I wanted to say is that I have learned this lesson the hard way as I started to attract something I thought I wanted but then soon realised that it was not what I wished for at all. Sorry I got side tracked explaining everything! but the lesson of the day is to be careful what you wish for, as you just might get it.

I believe our thoughts are not our own. It is hard to explain this but I think thoughts come from an external source and not from our own mind. I believe our minds are just the middle man. There to project these thoughts or forms of energy to us and we can then choose to grab onto them and give our full attention to thinking about them or we can choose to let them go and not dwell on thinking about these thoughts. This idea that our thoughts are not our own helps with mindfulness as when you realize the bad thoughts you get are not from your own mind it is then easier to find inner peace. the fact that good thoughts come as easy as bad thoughts can ground your anxiety and make you detach yourself from these negative thoughts. Too many people wrap their own emotions to negative thoughts that weren't even their own to begin with. This can create depression, anxiety and stress.

I try practising meditation and mindfulness as it helps you view your thoughts as simply just clouds in the sky passing through. Something that will go away, something that did not come from you and is not your own, and something that you don't have to worry about. So when I get a random negative thought pop into my mind I acknowledging it and respect that it is there and then I let it go.. I let the cloud float on by.. This helps me stay positive as I detach myself from negative thoughts and just focus on the good. Now if you want to take it too the next level you can detach yourself from ANY thoughts that might appear in your mind and rather just be constantly present in the moment and just be an observer enjoying the day. Now it can be tricky at first but practice makes perfect! practice, practice, practice and you will get the hang of it, of course you wont be perfect but at least you know you are making a conscious effort! This technique of fully being present in the moment, grounding any emotions and being spiritually connected with your mind/body/soul will bring you true happiness. At least that's what I think! by no means am I an expert on this but I take baby steps and just take every day as it comes. I have a LONG way to go but hey I'm only 16 so I have a few years a head of me.

I thought I would give you a challenge linked to what I have been talking about!

Challenge: take 5 min of your day to just focus on your breathing, nothing else... simply close your eyes and take deep breaths in, out and just try focusing your attention just on your breaths. Don't try to control your breaths, just view them like they are not trying to change them. This will be a moment you are fully present and mindful of the moment. It is called mediation even if it is only for 5 min! Meditation is when you are fully present thinking about your breath or your body. This will ground your emotions, make you more peaceful and put you in a good mood for the rest of the day.

I hope you will try it! It is a perfect first step to introduce you to the idea of meditation and mindfulness. Then if you decide to continue practising this act of meditation you will then slowly become more peaceful and happy.

Hope you have an awesome fun filled day that makes you happy!

quote of the day: " We have, I fear, confused power with greatness."

                                                                                         -Stewart Udall

stay golden ;)

- Emilia

Reflection over the past year

Well hello there, havnt posted in a while so I thought I would start up again in the summer! since now I have more time to just simply sit down and wright. I think I will blog mostly just throughout the summer and sometimes during the school year perhaps. I will blog mostly about ideas or thoughts that I have had and share some photographs as well.

Right now I am staring out the window looking at the pouring rain with sore eyes, picturing blue skies and warm winds. It has been sunny this whole week but yet today it rains. I'm not too upset by the rain however, since I like to believe rain sustains life and makes the grass green. I thought I would make this post as a reflection on the past school year. A lot has happened. There have been good times and bad times, happy and sad.. This past school year I believed I have changed dramatically more than any other year. I also think that one has to hit rock bottom to make a real change in their life and who they truly are. I have made LOTS of mistakes but I believe one can learn from them and come out as a better person. This past school year I have have found myself more and have started to do things I really love.

It has been a great year with my horse, Punky, we have a stronger bond now and I trust him more and more each day as he does as well. I have done more horsemanship with him and he has come so far! We now can successfully perform a 'join up' which at the beginning of the fall I could only dream of doing. If you are not familiar with this you can look it up or read the next paragraph. If you are not interested please skip next paragraph.

A join up is when you have your horse free in an arena or corral ( I did it in a big arena as my barn doesn't have any small western corrals) and you simply chase after him/her until they are cantering around the arena in a circle at a consistent pace. This shows the horse that you are the boss and indicates that you are a leader. As horses are prey animals they live in herds and there is always one dominant horse which is the leader. The goal of this activity is to show the horse that you are its leader and that he/she can have trust/faith in you. So once you get your horse running around you, at some point the horse will bow down his head, flicker his ear in towards you and start licking and chewing. This indicates that he is listening (ears turning in towards you), that he understands (licking and chewing is a sign of this) and that he is submissive towards you and knows that you are the leader (bowing his head down). Once the horse has given you these signals you then respond with your body language. You do this by turning away from your horse and face in the other direction. When you do this you release the pressure you were putting on your horse to keep on moving forward, and when this 'energy/pressure' is released the horse slows down, turns in toward you and walks toward you. When you turn away from your horse, it is telling the horse that you accept him into your herd. Then when the horse walks up to you it is saying that he sees you as a herd leader now. After he has approached you from the back, you can turn around and reward him by petting him to show that he has been a good boy/girl. Sometimes after the join up has occurred you can walk around and the horse will follow you. Punky does this when he isn't feeling tired or lazy! He wasn't always willing to do this and it took me multiple times of working with him to get him to join up. Now he does it almost every time and likes to follow me around with no halter or lead rope! This past year has really been a huge progress of building our relationship with horsemanship and gaining trust in one another.

Yesterday I did some horseman ship exercises with him and performed a join up even though he was a bit tired

So anyways, I think I will be posting on this blog every other day with some thoughts ive had or with maybe some cool stuff that happened or is going to happen!

I really enjoy having my own horse, Punky, as he reminds me that even through the darkest times there is always some brightness and joy in life. He has been there for me through this whole past year through every success and every struggle. This brings me comfort as everything is changing in life he is always there. Having him to go to everyday has helped immensely and that he has been there through it all makes me so happy.

I have become obsessed with this song lately. Its from this movie called 'Cloud Atlas' and its called "the cloud atlas sextet" go check it out if you have time! it is simply beautiful! On youtube I think there is an extended version of it that is 15 minutes!

Ok well bye and see you in not too long. Oh and sorry for not having any photos, I will post some for next time!

Stay golden ;)

quote of the day: "don't let mistakes define your life"

Fall has to come at some point

so I didn't do any blogging when I was on vacation in phoenix because I didn't really feel like it and I was spending a lot of time with family which was super fun! it was awesome getting bombarded with heat for a whole month and spending a glorious week in Colorado. the highlight of the Colorado trip would be when I went on a day ride with just me and the guide up in the mountains on a beautiful sunny day! the guide I had, Preston was the main guy who owned the trail riding company and our families know another from owning the cabin nearby. I love it up there and especially on the toner ranch where the trail riding is. it is truly the western dream. he even offered I could come back next summer and work on the ranch as a summer job! I am taking him up on that offer and I want to go next summer for a whole month or maybe even more to work there in Colorado on the ranch and be a true cowgirl! anyways phoenix was relaxing and I went to the gym a lot, ate lots of fresh fruit and watermelon! Ugh so good and so cheap as well! some highlights from phoenix would be going and having a spa day at this luxurious spa in phoenix, seeing the diamondbacks play and meeting the players with our VIP passes, hanging out with my grandparents and aunt in general as we went to restaurants and spent good quality time together. :) 

so when we got back from our trip we had 3 weeks before school started, so I just went to punky a lot, went on long walks with nickie did yoga and meditation a lot. then one weekend we went up to voss for about 5 days total with 3 full days up there. it was super fun, we did major blueberry picking and made homemade vegan blueberry pie up at the cabin in voss as well. we went on long beautiful walks with nickie and one big hike up some fjords as well! it was magical and the scenery was just so majestic. one walk we went on we went up this hill to find ourselves on some farmland and nickie was loving it! he was rolling in the grass but we scurried across the field since we saw the house and thought we saw some people in the window XD. then when we went down the road back to the cabin my brother and dad went pee in the bushes and suddenly out of nowhere 2 cars come by and my brother runs into the trees so they couldn't see him! haha I was laughing so hard while we walked back I could barely walk straight, I always seem to have a great laugh when I am with my family, we are all just naturally funny I guess :P

so my summer was pretty great, I spent lots of time with punky, my barn friends, my family and I got to come to know myself quite a bit better over the course of the summer.

I am now excited for fall to come with the chilly cold weather and my birthday! haha you would think I wouldn't be excited about the cold but I love wearing sweaters and I prefer being cold over hot anyday :D

quote of the day: " find your own happiness from within, don't be reliant on others for your own happiness." - anonymous

bye bye and remember stay golden ;)

departure time - 12:20

It is officially the day before we leave for phoenix!! tomorrow our first flight leaves Norway for London at 12:20pm! AH I am sooo excited to get bombarded with heat and the sunshine, see family that I haven't seen in ages! Also I am overly excited to fill my days with relaxation/meditation, getting tan, lots of yoga, getting able to go to a gym that is not far away, swimming, shopping and getting a chance to be a fully raw vegan!!! I will be a fruit monster while being able to go high carb low fat raw vegan. it sounds like a diet but it is a lifestyle. since fruit is so expensive here in Norway it is hard to do, but in phoenix it is much cheaper and I already found farmers markets, whole sale places where I can stock up on fruit and fully live the lifestyle that I dream about and thrive to wanting to live. It is the superior diet which I believe you can achieve your optimal health and now I can do it 100 percent for a whole 1 month!! when I get back to Norway I will probably have to resume the raw vegan diet at only 60-70 percent with having some cooked meals here and there but still going high carb low fat vegan. It is sooo rawsome and carbalisious! :P don't be afraid of carbs they fuel your body for the whole entire day!! I mean good carbs of course (fruit, vegetables, whole grains, wild rice, quinoa..). don't be afraid of the sugar in fruit since every cell in our body runs on glucose! on this lifestyle you have unlimited calories and can have humongous portion sizes since it is pure nutrients your body uses. you won't gain weight either since your body is using all the good healthy things you are feeding it! you will never overdose on fruit! if anything the only thing you have to worry about while going on this lifestyle is eating enough calories! so I will be trying to shove down 2000-2500 calories a day at least of raw fruits and veggies with small amounts of nuts and seeds. if you want to see proof that oyu don't gain weight search up freely the banana girl, durian rider or fully raw Kristina on YouTube or the internet to see it! they all are high carb low fat raw vegans that have been doing this long term and are lean mean working machines!! the two girls freely and Kristina are both SUPER fit and healthy and they eat at least 3000 calories of fruit and veg every single day! I wish I could live their lives.. my family is quite against the idea and with fruit being soo expensive it is hard to convince them.. but where there is a will there is a way!! so my lifelong goal that I will for sure be starting once I move out and go off to college will be to become a 100 percent raw veganer. but I am doing the best I can for now and just having that dream at the back of my head of being at that optimal health that I can achieve.. I can only dream..

on Thursday my brother and I walked down to a beach only 20 min away and 5 min driving distance. it was super sunny and we toke our dog with. we are thinking of putting our money together to buy a gopro camera thingy that we could get for phoenix so we have a project to work on in phoenix and Colorado. so that will be fun! :) then that afternoon I went horseback riding with my friend. I rode for a long 50 min at gave my horse punky and myself a real workout! we were both sweating our brains out! so since he was dripping and covered in sweat I gave him a cold shower. then of course when I let him back out into the field the first thing he did when not even taking two steps into the field was roll in dirt.. haha that is punky!! he is one funny fjord :P the next day I just went on a trail ride with him which was nice and peaceful. he was especially good and I got some cute pictures of him and the herd when I put him back out in the field for the night. I figured out that he is the leader of the herd since when he was gone the other horses waited at the gate for him until he got back :P so I am proud of him being a leader and taking care of his herd :) I also got priceless pics of when he came up to the gate to say goodbye his girlfriend joined so I got pictures of them both together <3

on that Friday Erlend joined me down at the farm to feed the lambs and I got some funny pictures of him giving milk to 49 aswell. We saw a group of horseback riders go bye that were riding western with western saddles! Not something you see everyday in Norway! 

on Saturday we got up super early to drive down to Kristiansand so we could watch Erlend play 2 baseball games. it was really intense, they lost the first game only by 1 point after having to go into extra innings and the second game they won 10-4! the team they won against was really good but erlends team was better! he did so well pitching and playing first place, he did a lot of good plays! I am sure proud of him!

today was just a packing and planning day to prepare for our journey to phoenix tomorrow. Erlend went to oslo to play more baseball. I cooked, fried and ate the plantains raw that I have been ripening for weeks now. my mom and dad loved them and so did I. they were so creamy and tasty! then afterwards we drove our dog, Nickie to the kennel wich was sad ;(

okay bye bye and remember stay golden ;)

quote of the day: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
― H. Jackson Brown Jr.

I Love Lucy and homemade orange juice

The last couple of days I have been a little under the weather.. I have had a stuffed up head and nose for a couple of days now but its getting better. I didn't go down to the barn or the farm for two days so it was good to see 48, 49 and Punky today after not seeing them for a while!

on Sunday and Monday I literally just chilled the whole day since I was feeling so sick. it bugged me that I couldn't do anything physical like go horseback riding or do my daily yoga or go jogging in the sunny weather there was. but I just had to accept that my body was telling me it needed to rest, and I had to listen to it by taking it easy. it makes sense that my body needed a rest since after exams my brain was dead and once summer started I was going down to the farm to work for 4-5 hours and then straight to the barn for 2 hours to ride each and every day, so I needed the rest :P

a favorite thing I like to do when I am sick is to watch the  "I Love Lucy" show. it is a comedy tv series filmed in the 50's about a red head named Lucy and her Cuban husband. it is just pure humor, I love it! its not like todays humor that is racist or sexist or based on making fun of cultures or nationalities. so I grabbed some raisins and squeezed some oranges to make my own homemade orange juice to sip on while laughing to "I Love Lucy" and nurturing myself back to health.

when my family and I watched "Downtown Abbey" that night a big thing happened, one of the characters died. I knew it was going to happen since I accidently saw a picture about it online but surprisingly I kept my mouth closed and didn't tell my family so they were shocked to find out that I knew this was going to happen all along! :P

on Monday we all headed down to the beach to grill our dinner in the sun and have our own BBQ. Nickie came along as well! earlier that day my mom and I went to the organic market to get some vegan hotdogs and hamburgers to eat that evening. we forgot to get some normal chicken hotdogs for my brother so my whole family ended up eating vegan that evening at our own BBQ!! it made me so happy, my brother was a little unhappy and sceptical but he even liked it! it was awesome, we brought our 'engangsgrill' which is a portable grill that you use only one time. we brought towels to lay on, on the sand and a picnic basket with watermelon berries, dried banana and our vegan hotdogs and burgers! we brought along some paddle things with a ball that we all played with after eating our dinner. we found a place that was like a ditch amid the sand dunes that was protected from the wind so it was the ideal place. my brother and I ran with nickie along the shoreline on the sandy beach to tire out nickie so he could rest while we would eat/ we told some riddles while waiting for the hotdogs to grill which was fun and tricky!  it was intense while I was diving all over the place while we were trying to beat our record of hitting around 8 times! doesn't sound like a lot but it sure took some time to beat! the sun was absolutely gorgeous and it was a fun family bonding time for sure!

on Tuesday I went to the hairdresser to get my hair re dyed and I decided to get it dyed close to my natural color which is a dark honey dirty blonde colour instead of my normal blonde highlight and lowlights which I usually get. so it was a nice change and now my hair is more darker and closer to my natural hair colour.

today I went down to the farm at 9 30 am. it started with me milking 48 and 49 as usual. then afterwards I helped the famer gather up the pigs that were going to be sent on to their new location. he first went into each stall and slapped on a tattoo marking that pricked a number in ink on their rump and he marked the ones we chose he was going to send off with a blue sharpie. then afterwards we had to go in each separate stall, gather and move the ones that were marked while making sure the other ones that weren't marked wouldn't get out. that took a good 2 hours of pure muscle and sweat since the pigs are heavy and strong weighing in at about 100 kilos and they can be stubborn while they put up the fight!

while we waited for the delivery truck to come get them I went in the tractor with the farmer to go get some fertiliser (pig poo) from this big container where he stores it all and then we drove to one of his fields which he owns a few km away to do some rounds of fertilising of spraying the fields with this pig poo. it was sooo fun it was like riding a roller coaster when the tractor was powering up the hills while spraying the fields in this pig poo. I didn't mind the smell since I am used to it and I was just in farm heaven! when we got back the farmer asked me to try and go give some milk to this lamb that is so small and weak which he doesn't think will make it. so I went out to the field and 48 came running down along with 49 so I gave them a drink and then I suddenly noticed a lamb laying down in a little dip in the grassy hill only a few meters ahead of me. I realised it was the weak lamb I was looking for. I approached it and it was worrying when it didn't get up and run away from me since it is usually scared of me. it struggled to get up with it barely having enough energy to lift its head. so I got down and petted it gently to calm it down. it layed its head down and it looked sick. I really thought this was its last minutes alive he looked like he had no more life in him. thinking this I started saying things like " don't worry you can pass away, you can just rest here, we all love you, you have had a great life and it is okay if you leave.. you will go to a more peaceful place where you can have as much milk as you want and there will be so much green grass that you will become overexcited with pure happiness and joy. after 10 min of petting him he showed me he actually wanted to get up, so I lifted him up and helped him on his feet. he wobbled away and started eating some grass. he stumbled a few times and I could sense how weak we was. the farmer said its because he isn't drinking enough milk from his mother and he wouldn't even drink out of the bottle I tried to give him so due to the lack of milk he isn't getting he is just to weak and has trouble staying on his feet ;(

after being down at the farm I had some lunch and then headed to the barn to ride Punky. he was AWESOME, he was on his best behaviour and I was so happy with him. so we got a good workout and just missed the rain too! I got the rain while walking home though, but I loved it every step of the way. that summer rain hitting my face that was previously warm with sweat after the ride was one good feeling that couldn't stop me from smiling!

quote of the day: "Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. Your really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."
— Lucille Ball (from the 50's hit TV show 'I Love Lucy')

bye bye and remember stay golden ;)

motherly instincts

These past few days have been interesting.. on Friday when I went down to the barn I couldn't find the bottle that I use to milk the lambs with so I sort of freaked out because now I had nothing to give the milk to the lambs with. the famer wasn't there so he couldn't help me so I just had to try using something else. there was another bottle but it had a different tip so I tried that but the poor lambs were confused since they had never seen this type of bottle before. so they got a bit frustrated and so did I since they was nothing I could do to help them. this is where my motherly instincts came in and I decided I was going to do something about it. I got my dad to drive me to a warehouse store that sells farming equipment where the farmer of the farmer I work at buys most of his stuff. my dad is familiar with the store since he worked there when he was a teenager himself. sure enough we found what we were looking for the first place we looked. after that we drove straight to the barn to save 48 and 49 from their famine ;P so they thought it was good to have a nice warm drink of milk out of a bottle they were familiar with.

on Friday afternoon I went to a BBQ down at my stables for a summer social kind of thing for everyone who boards their horse there. I grilled my vegan hotdogs while others grilled their pork ribs and burgers. on Saturday I went down early to the stables to get in a morning ride before continuing on down to work on the farm. I biked down at 8 in the morning to get in this workout session. Punky was really good and awake! so we got in a nice solid hard workout before I turned him back out into the field again for the day.

these past nights my dad, my brother and I have been watching the matrix movies and I just love them! I just think the concept of the movie is so cool. how the real world is actually fake and in the real world the machines rule. the machines made up this make believe world called 'the matrix' where the humans live their lives inside their mind when they believe they are doing things when they actually aren't. the machines trick them into thinking they are living a normal life when they actually are hooked into this system. the humans do things in this make believe world and create energy which forms electricity for the machines to use in the real world.

it was raining the night before so a lot of slugs were out crossing the sidewalk. a lot of cruel Norwegian kids like to runt hem over while biking. but when I biked down to the barn I felt like the girl in the matrix who can do anything while I was dodging all the slugs at lightning speed down the steep hill.. it was an adventurous moment in the morning :P the field next to the barn was being sprayed with pig poo as a fertiliser (that's what Norwegian farmers like to do to save money and be more efficient with resources) as I rode down the sidewalk on my bike to go to the farm after riding, the farmer was rounding the corner with the tractor and as he was coming on the edge of the field right next to the sidewalk I almost got sprayed with poop! it was a near hit experience! that would have been bad.. anyways it was a good busy day with me being outside for most of it.

quote of the day: “A mother knows what her child's gone through, even if she didn't see it herself.”
― Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Gadis Pantai

bye bye and remember stay golden ;)